It is important in many medical and surgical situations to maintain a supply of oxygen to a patient to assist the patient in breathing and to maintain a consistent oxygen level in the blood stream. Several devices have been developed over the years to provide the patient with a constant supply of oxygen. These devices may take the form of portable devices for those requiring a source of oxygen as they go about their daily lives. Alternatively, the devices may take the form of permanent or semi-permanent devices for use in doctor's offices or hospitals.
In the case of the permanent oxygen supply devices, the source of oxygen itself is typically a large canister or a central oxygen supply network extending throughout the offices or hospital rooms. These canisters or supply networks are essentially fixed within the rooms and include a port to connect a length of supply tubing to bring the oxygen from the source to the patient.
While such a fixed setup may initially seem convenient, the relatively long lengths of supply tubing necessary to reach the patient are often unwieldy causing them to get tangled around furniture, medical device support frames or a patient's bed located in the room. This poses several problems including, inter alia, kinking or bending of the supply tubing thereby dangerously cutting off the flow of oxygen to the patient, danger of strangulation of the patient, danger of falling due to tripping over the excess supply tubing, etc.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a device for managing and retaining a length of medical tubing used to supply oxygen or another fluid to a patient, to prevent at least one of the above described problems from occurring.